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I posted previously about how I had made a muslin for the first time. I have now made the actual garment using an Ikat fabric. I am really happy with the result but I keep thinking that I would have achieved the same result without having made a muslin!

Like this:

It is only since I started following some sewing blogs that I have discovered that there is such a thing as “a muslin”. I knew that there was a fabric called muslin but I had no idea what “a muslin” was. Apparently when you make up a pattern using cheap fabric that is what is called a muslin and it is so you can check that everything is AOK before you embark on using your expensive fabric.

In all my years of sewing I have never made a muslin so I thought it was about time that I started. I bought some calico and some cheap gingham to use for my muslin. The calico was no good as it was only 100 cm wide so I ended up using the gingham.

The pattern I used was this one and you can see the fabric that I intend to use after I have made the muslin.

You can see that the fabric was not expensive, a mere $7.60, but I did want to make sure that this tunic pattern worked ok on me. This is the result in the gingham.

It looks a bit like something a shop assistant would wear but I think it will be fine in the Ikat fabric. It fitted fine with a small adjustment to the side seam.

Will I bother to make a muslin again. No. As I usually don’t spend a great deal of money on the fabric it is just a waste of time for me. Now I am ready to make it for the second time but using the original fabric. I will let you see it when I am finished.

Today I managed to get a bit of sewing done. I always seem to get side tracked when I am on my way to the sewing room which is up at the back of the garden. I tend to find that there are things in the garden that need doing or demand my attention. For example yesterday on my way to do some sewing I noticed that the hedge needed pruning so I did half of the hedge then after lunch I cut some flowers for inside and while doing that I noticed that the roses needed fertilising. One thing led to another and so the sewing didn’t take place until today.

added sleeve length

front seam detail

I had this garment cut out so it was just a case of sewing it together. I have long arms and every pattern I use I have to adjust the sleeves so they fit me correctly. They look really long in the picture but they fit me perfectly.

This was a very easy pattern but to show up the seam work I think I will make it in two colours next time.